I Don't Want My World to Change
by dragonofeternal
Summary: Things have changed- there are years and wars and status between them now- but the feelings they share have only grown deeper. (Post-Canon, spoilers for final arc!)


_A/N:_ _The manga might be over, but you can't stop these gay hands from continuing to write more juhaku than you can shake a stick at. I felt denied my requisite Judal-and-Hakuryuu-stand-next-to-each-other in the final chapter so I decided to write a little fic to fill in some gaps and provide some post-canon fluff. Enjoy!_

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Hakuryuu sighed as he looked around the joyous gathering of laughing friends and world leaders, all here to celebrate Alibaba and Morgiana's union. He shouldn't have been surprised that Judal wasn't there. He had little love for ceremony, and less still for seeming like a lovey-dovey idiot. Still, there was something disappointing about knowing that Judal had abandoned him to deal with this mess alone.

At least if Judal had been there, he would have had someone to gossip with while he dealt with all this noise and joy.

"Come on, Hakuryuu!" Takeruhiko said, slapping him on the back. "Join in the party! Maybe have a drink or two! There's lots of cute girls here…"

Hakuryuu held up his hands, laughing off the offer. "No, no thank you. You've seen what liquor does to me."

Takeruhiko drew him close though, gesturing out at the crowd. "All right, but don't go being so standoffish at least! If you're sad your buddy beat you to the punch, I'm sure there's plenty of gals here who would love to get to know you better."

Hakuryuu sighed heavily, but, realizing that the only way out was to put on a mask, he forced his smile back on. "You're right. I shouldn't be sullen." He slipped once more from Takeruhiko's grasp. "I'll go talk to some people to raise my spirits."

Takeruhiko grinned and gave Hakuryuu a thumbs up that Hakuryuu returned before turning away and disappearing into the crowd. The ruler of Kina was such an exhausting man. Hakuryuu wove his way through the throng of people, politely excusing himself when he jostled into others, until he was finally able to slip from the tents and out into the setting sun. He sighed heavily, letting his public facade of celebration slip. Pretending to be happy for hours was exhausting.

Hakuryuu marched across the field of tents and ruins set up at the edge of the rift, walking until he could stare out over the edge at the setting sun and be alone with his thoughts.

In all honesty, it hurt. It hurt to know that Judal didn't care enough to be there to support him. To put aside his own petty wants so he could be there to support Hakuryuu through the stupid wedding and the even more exhausting after party. Hakuryuu sat down in the dirt and sighed heavily.

It didn't help that they'd gotten into… well. He didn't want to call it a fight, per say, but it was definitely a disagreement of some sort, and when Hakuryuu had dared to mention that he didn't want to fight because he cared for Judal, deeply, Judal had just shut down and run off. So that was that.

Hakuryuu's heart felt heavy. Did this mean things were over? That Judal was moving on? Was he just being too sensitive? Ugh.

There was a soft noise behind him, and then the padding of feet in his direction. "Yo, Hakuryuu! There you are!"

Hakuryuu slowly got up. Well. Time to face this, then. "Hello, Judal." He turned to face Judal, who looked entirely unapologetic. "Where were you during the wedding?"

"Looked boring," Judal said with a cheeky grin. "I had better things to do with my time."

"I see," Hakuryuu said. "You know, I could have really used your support back there. But I guess since we're not allowed to talk about our feelings anymore, I should have expected you wouldn't come."

"Whaddya need my support for?" Judal asked. "It's just a dumb wedding."

Hakuryuu's cheeks flushed with anger. "Maybe I wanted to have you there so I wasn't alone at the wedding of someone I killed and someone I once proposed to. Perhaps I wanted a shred of support from someone who understands me."

"Oh, they forgave you," Judal said, rolling his eyes. "Quit being a baby."

"That isn't the point!" Hakuryuu crossed his arms. "First you run off when I try to talk about caring about you, getting all weird, then you abandoned me at the wedding, and now-"

"Look, the wedding was probably boring and stuffy, and you know I hate stuff like that."

Hakuryuu opened his mouth and snapped it shut again, wordless with hurt and frustration. Yes, Judal hated ceremony, but abandoning him to do double the social obligation at a wedding he also didn't want to go to on top of their earlier fight was insult on injury. He forced himself to speak calmly. "I'm hurt. I wanted you there for me, and now for the second time in as many days you've just blown off my needs to do whatever frivolous, fun thing has attracted your attention now."

Judal wilted, looking upset and then angry. Because of course he got angry- how else was he supposed to deal with emotions. "Like I said, I had important stuff to do! Thinking stuff! It wasn't frivolous."

"Thinking stuff." Hakuryuu's tone was flat, tired, and dangerous all at once.

"I didn't know you were so upset over this stupid wedding," Judal tried to explain. "But a lot of stuff has changed lately. I'm not a magi anymore, you're not a king-"

"If you don't want to be together anymore just say so," Hakuryuu spits, not wanting to play whatever game Judal is trying to start to spare his feelings. He knows things have changed- there are years and wars and status between them now. He just thought that their love was the one thing that hadn't changed between them.

Judal looks stunned. "I… That's not what I…"

"Then what are you saying, Judal?" Hakuryuu demands. "Because nothing else you've said for the past two days has made me feel like you find me to be anything but… but something you've outgrown."

"Look, just-" Judal made an aggravated noise and stomped his foot, hanging his head. "Just let me talk for a second, okay?"

Hakuryuu bristled, feeling his emotions flare. How dare Judal act like he was the one hurt here? He wasn't the one- but fine, fine. He kept his mouth shut of all the angry, sad, hurtful things he wanted to say. "All right then."

Judal took a few deep breaths. "Things… Have changed a lot. The whole damn world. I'm not a magi anymore. That was my whole life, you know?" He laughed, and it sounded small and scared and sharp. "I'm not the same person I was before I guess. I'm even one of the dumb good guys now."

"I see." Hakuryuu took a deep breath, bracing for whatever would come next.

"I needed time to figure out how to say all the stupid shit floating around in my head. Everything's so… different now, and I hate change. And so, that's why…" Judal looked up, his eyes rimmed with tears and filled with determination. "You're not allowed to leave, okay?" He punched Hakuryuu gently over the heart. "I can take the rest of this if I have you here." Judal slowly twisted his fist until his hand was palm up and open. Hakuryuu looked down and blinked at the plain ring there. "You're not allowed to say no, okay? You and me, we're gonna be together forever. Even if we aren't magi and king anymore."

Hakuryuu softly took the ring from Judal and slipped it onto his finger. Its weight and smoothness felt right there. "Judal," he said softly, shaking his head. He looked Judal in the face again, at the determined, vulnerable look there, the two of them bathed in the slowly fading light of the golden sun, and he smiled back at him. "Of course I won't leave." He wiped at his eyes and then took Judal's hand. "I'm still mad at you for ditching me at the wedding, though."

"To be fair, there were gonna be a lot of people at that wedding who probably wanted me dead," Judal pointed out.

Hakuryuu blinked. "Well. I suppose that's true." He shook his head, smiling. "Why didn't you just say that in the first place then?"

Judal raised his eyebrows at Hakuryuu, giving him an expression that said 'I can barely manage to say I love you, and you expect me to be able to discuss the nuanced subject of how many people want me dead?' It was a very expressive eyebrow raise, and Hakuryuu laughed at himself for how he could have mistaken Judal's intentions for anything but clumsy affection before.

"Well, then," he said, squeezing Judal's hand and pulling him into an embrace. "I guess we'll just have to elope."


End file.
